Ramsey

I jumped in about half way through the show so I got to see all of Big E./Henry vs. The Real Americans and marked the fuck out as it progressed. That was Mid-South level slobber-knockery. Some one here compared Big and Henry to the Road Warriors. I love this comparison and heartily endorse it. Then came Punk and the Shawn Michaels shaped ball of camouflage. Shawn still has it on the mic but I must agree with what other posters have already pointed out. I have zero interest in seeing him wrestle again. The Punk/Usos vs. The Shield match was ok but I've seen better from all of them. Finally, Bryan and Orton. Let me repeat what I've said about Orton from the beginning. The man is dull personified. I'd rather read the weekly Target ad than watch the guy do anything really but, I'll hand it to him, what he did vs. Bryan worked. The story was told. This is as close as I'll ever come to complimenting Randy again so I hope his fans here drank it in. Oh, and Bryan's hometown crowd in Dallas sure got loud for him....

Speaking as a Northwest native, we were calling ourselves Canada Jr. before it was cool.

Posting Kreayshawn is tantamount to terrorism. Randy Orton is indeed Nickelback because I fucking hate Nickelback.

Summer, 1988, I'm 14 and it's one of the 10 times in 30 years that live wrestling has come to Idaho. My buddy Tom and I have tickets AND we, along with his folks) have rooms in the same hotel the wrestlers are staying in. Thus, I met, not saw, MET the following: Jake the Snake (while wearing a Jake the Snake shirt): "So boys, did ya like the show?" Sam Houston: "I left the NWA because I was in the top 10 and kicking Flair ass and they keep putting Jimmy Garvin on TV." Yes, he stayed kayfabe 100%. Andre the Giant: He was tired and obviously hurting but stopped on his way from his room (1st room from the lobby, 1st floor) to the bar to shake hands with my buddy and I and tell us he was "happy that he made us smile." Harley Race: A TOTAL class act. The guy was dressed to the nines when we saw him before the show and he told us he was going to "show you young men what a REAL king looks like" before signing autographs for both of us. We saw Warlord (Powers of Pain) throwing his gear in a washing machine. This experience and masturbation were the best parts of my teens.

What color was his bandanna? *I misread Jeff Jarret as Jeff Hardy. The fucking bandanna thing would have been hysterical if it was Jeff Hardy. The internet is hard.*

I let Maxx Payne chop me once. I'm not a hero. I'm just a regular guy like anyone else.

This is where I find my disconnect with Orton. In general, everything about him bores me. The character, the in-ring work, the look, all of it. It worries me that I'm so completely out of touch. I'd rather watch Dean Ambrose and Bryan HATE each other for two PPV's than see one Orton themed angle. Right now I see TONS of talent in the WWE and I don't count Orton even in the top ten. Meanwhile, I find that when Cena puts on his working shoes and is in an angle or match with someone who can hold up his end, he entertains the shit out of me. So, it's not like I'm some sort of elitist internet smark (ok, I am kinda,) I just think Orton falls well below B+ player. One thought I had was my age and demographic placement. I'm solidly middle class and 40 years old. I won't be using Axe body spray or seeing a monster truck show anytime soon. Orton may simply be aimed at a consumer half my age.

So, the WWE quickly realized (or knew the entire time but planned around it) that Orton and Show was not "best of business" so they've re-directed toward Orton/Cena again. This leads me to ask a question of the more dedicated WWE watchers in the house. What is the appeal of Randy Orton. I myself can't see it. His character is always sort of based around "ooooo, he's dangerous...oooo, he's crazy" but he comes across (to me, at least) as a very bland "sports entertainment object." Lots of tattoos, "edgy" but shallow as a kiddie pool. I'm not trolling here. I am dead serious. Someone explain what I should be digging about this guy because, as of now, he is chasing me away from the WWE after a short Shield/Bryan/Punk/Paul E. fueled return. (Edited for spelling, punctuation and a better interwebs experience.)

So, just out of curiosity, has there been any news on the buy rate for this one yet? From what I hear, they (WWE office types) aren't expecting anything great.

Random wrestling thoughts: I may have found someone who can, for a (relatively) low cost, start transferring my VHS wrestling into digital wrestling. This makes me happy. Now I'll have dvd copies of the hundreds of hours of wrestling I don't have time to watch. There is nothing Vince McMahon and "creative" can do to make me give a flying fuck about Orton, Show, and HHH. Not one goddamn thing. Jesus Christ, the fact that these guys continue to sit on top of the company says volumes about the innate ability of the WWE to sell shit sandwiches at premium prices and convince the rubes it's filet Mignon. So, I saw about 15 minutes of talking between Bubba Dudley and some bearded biker types. I realize that talking and skits are what big time wrestling is made of now but holy shit, that was painful.

So, Orton/Show/HHH? Thus ends my three month Shield/Bryan fueled renewed interest in the WWE. Bring back Shamus and my disinterest will be complete.

While I am still new to the whole "gimmick posting" scheme, if I was to play the role of "Dickbag Punk AND Bryan mark" would I sort of be like the Freebirds feuding with the Von Erichs AND Devastation Incorporated? If so, I'll totally do it...I love that shit. Oh, Raw? Yeah, Bryan and Ambrose was really fun, so was the Shield and the Uso's. I've been away from the WWE for a long, long time, and lately, I've truly enjoyed their programming. Not enough to buy a PPV or anything but, hey, baby steps...

Once again, late to the dance . The majority of Raw bored the shit out of me. Then, of course, we got to the main event. Sweet baby jeebus, the Shield vs. the Rhodes boys made me feel like a 14 year old mark again. Seeing 44 year old Dustin working at such a high level and getting the time to do it against opponents who can carry their half of the match is like a gift from the wrestling gods. The WWE has been on a HUGE roll this year. If this is what things are going to look like under the HHH regime, count me in. Also, "Swinging the larger Brodus" is now my sig. I'll knife fight you if you don't approve.

As a total outsider and someone who is new to the concept of gimmick posting, I see Gonzales as the Nature Boy Buddy Landell to FSW's Nature Boy Ric Flair. Am I way off here? Is this more of a Bill Dundee/Billy Graham sort of vibe?

Yes, this. While I haven't seen all of the matches listed here, I can say that Punk/Cena from Raw in January (PILEDRIVER, MOTHERFUCKER!!!) really entertained me. That was the beginning of me paying ANY attention to the WWE in years. I've watched Raw more in the last 10 weeks than I have in the last 10 years. Seeing guys like Punk, Bryan, the Shield, Cesaro, Cena, etc. come out and just bust their asses and actually give us great, emotional in-ring product has kept me intrigued. With that all said, Bryan would be my MVP and match of the year would be Punk/Lesnar but just barely.

Overall Raw for me was "eh." That's not to say there weren't some serious mark out moments for me. - "It's the Rhodes boys!" was pretty much the coolest thing of the night for me. That had a definite JCP feel for me. Cody and Goldust are suddenly red hot. I didn't think I'd be saying that in 2013. - The Punk/Heyman segment was great but too long in my humble opinion. - The show itself just felt too long. Two RVD matches may have made it feel even longer. He's like a spot-fueled time machine to 1998. I'm just not feeling him at all and I want him to stay off my tv. - Steph and HHH are playing the role evil/plastic/corporate soul suckers to a T. This is what heel heat SHOULD look and feel like. Once again, I feel the deep down body-hate I used to get when Tully and Arn would slap Dusty or Barry Windham around back in the day. - The 11 on 3 was entertaining for me with the highlight being the stare down between Reigns and Titus. That was one of those "by gawd" Bill Wattsian moments that could kill a man. Once again, let me state for the record, Reigns, if booked correctly, could be HUGE.

I'm late to the party here but I wanted to echo the praise Roman Reigns is getting this week. He looked fantastic and it wasn't all just Bryan doing magic tricks. His moves looked great, his trash talk was top-notch and, yeah, he killed Kofi on the way out. Bryan has been amazing but I hope the Shield continue to get some sugar too because they've been a HUGE part of Bryan's ascent as of late. Oh, and might I add, Heyman and Dusty should have jobs waiting for them at the WWE "Sports Entertainment University" teaching promo 101. They were both awesome for different spectacular reasons. I am sorta fat and sorta ugly but I own my house and have had some sex.

Watched the Mid-South set yesterday and found myself loving the shit out of One Man Gang vs. Big Bubba Rogers. Wrestling needs more huge fat guys kicking the shit out of each other. It would be "good for business" and great for America.

I would just like to point out that "Herzoging" could and should be the next "thing."

I should probably mention that the Dr. Nick Redbone that's showing up on the Twitter machine is me. It's my radio handle. I've never bothered to run a Twitter under my real name because, well...I didn't.

I could have focused on work today. Fuck that. This thread kept me fed and kept me warm.

As a lapsed, casual WWE fan, I have to say I don't habitually watch anymore, but have come back for specific moments or matches. The Punk/Cena/MitB 2011 situation got me invilved again if only momentarily. Then I was alucky enough to randomly catch the great match those two had on RAW in February. The Shield and Bryan manage to grab my attention from time to time but this handful of guys simply isn't enough to keep me interested enough to watch full time. Now, I should say that I've never been a "super fan" of the the WWF/E. Never purchased a PPV, haven't seen a live event since the late 80's, etc. I am a full blown wrestling fan, but the inherant silliness that started in the Hogan era was always a little too much for me. I was/am a JCP/AJPW/Memphis/Texas type fan. Gritty and emotional was more my speed. The WWE is still capable of producing some of the best wrestling in the world. Once again, Cena/Punk from 2011 was AMAZING and I love watching Bryan when he's given time to really work. I'll also say that, booked properly, I think Dean Ambrose could be HUGE. It's the crap they want tme to sit through to get to the good stuff that I simply can't stomach. Funkadactyls, the goddamn McMahons every ten minutes, Fandango, show opening promos going on for 20 minutes, the backstage nonsense with Maddox and Vicky...the list goes on and on. I'm happy to buy blu-rays from the HUGE library Vince has aquired but I simply can't stomach the skits and bad attempts at comedy in the current product.

I grew up in small town Idaho. I live in small town Idaho. I didn't just watch Napoleon Dynamite. I lived Napoleon Dynamite.